Inductee Details

Fredrick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard

(1894-1986) ~ Inducted 1967

Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, 1894-1986, came from Lane Tech in Chicago and was known as a great running-back for Brown University in 1915 and 1916. As a freshman he started on the Brown squad that played in the first Rose Bowl game, becoming the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl. In 1916, the fleet and elusive Pollard was hailed by Coach Walter Camp as "The finest back these eyes have ever seen." Several weeks later, Pollard became the first black man ever to make Walter Camp's All-American backfield. After college he played six years of professional football and eventually returned to Chicago. His son, Fritz Pollard, Jr., also a Brown student, won a bronze medal in the high hurdles in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.